UPDATE: Boxborough family seeks new liver to save sister

Matt Mallio @actonbeacon

Friday

May 17, 2019 at 10:28 AMMay 20, 2019 at 4:21 PM

Members of the family of Sara Krol, 31, a former Boxborough resident, Acton-Boxborough Regional High graduate, and former AB soccer star, are hoping to place her on a donor list to receive a liver transplant. They family has started a GoFundMe page to see if they can help raise the estimated $50,000-plus needed for a liver transplant.

Sara Krol, according to her older brother Bryan, a Shirley resident, is the youngest of five siblings. Bryan said his family grew up in the Berkshires and moved to the Acton-Boxborough in the mid-'90s, and "have just been incorporated deeply in the Acton-Boxborough system since."

Insurance problems

Bryan was reached while he was on a bus headed to New York to be with his sister. His voice broke with emotion while talking about her. He said Sara graduated from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and went off to New York City. After graduating from NYU, Sara lived and worked in New York. Last year, according to her brother, she began having liver problems and may not have been appropriately treated. Her liver has since deteriorated to the point where she needs a full transplant.

As her illness worsened, Bryan said, she slid into depression and in the process let her insurance lapse. She has since qualified for Medicaid, and it will be reinstated retroactively. Still, Bryan said, that will not cover all of the costs.

Transplant list

Sara needs a full liver transplant, and for the last week, Sara was at NYU's Tisch Hospital and is currently at Mt. Sinai Hospital as the family hunts to get her on a donor list.

"She's up against the clock," said Bryan, saying he was making every phone call he could to find a liver for his sister who, at best could have a month or two. But, according to Bryan, Sara's not giving up.

"She's got some fight in her," he said.

According to her brother, her skin is jaundiced and her eyes are golden in color. The next step in the process is to try and get Sara on the transplant list. Bryan said they were focusing on giving support and getting the word out about her condition.

"The more information we can get out to people," said Bryan, "the more support I feel like she can get right now."

For more information

Anyone interested in donating money may do so through her GoFundMe page. According to the "Save Sara Krol" GoFundMe page, more than $30,000 has been already raised.